Chivu: 'I appreciate the menality shown: these are two teams raising the level of the league'

“We're talking about two very strong teams that went head-to-head and gave it their all to win. We do have some regret because we took the lead twice, but when you're up against a side that's so good, it's never easy, and you have to deal with the challenges that they bring. We're disappointed that we didn't keep our composure and see the lead through to the end, but credit to our opponent, who did everything they could to equalise and even tried to win the game. The positives that I'm taking away are our attitude and the constant desire to push forward. At times, this was even a little too strong, as we were late in our pressing occasionally, especially where they're very good at short passes to then find the attacking midfielders or Højlund up front. But we tried everything to stay in the game and play according to our style. We were well aware that we were up against a team that is just as strong as us. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, we struggled; we then regained momentum with more possession, which perhaps cost us some energy. These two teams have raised the bar for modern football and Serie A. It's a shame not to win a direct clash, but we keep going and do everything we can to achieve our goals this season. It will be a fight that comes down to each point with four or five teams in the running. We knew that going into this, and it will be that way till the end. We expected a game like this. We were stretched at times, and they moved the ball well between tight spaces. And that's where we made some mistakes. But I'm happy with the players' attitude and their determination to press aggressively, even if it didn't always pay off. The draw was a fair result based on what we saw on the pitch. ”